It is not unheard of for fans to throw bottles at players, coaches and officials on bad calls in China. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7...ies-hitting-fan-china-basketball-playoff-loss And lord help them if they do something that the crowd really disapproves of... then the chairs come out. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...ion-in-china/2011/08/18/gIQAs1zeNJ_story.html And Taiwan isn't immune... http://www.taiwanhoops.com/1999/08/taiwan-vs-philippines-ended-with-brawl.html That doesn't mean that the game will erupt into a warzone of course, I would just say that it would be wise for the Pacers to be very careful in terms of cheap shots. I'm pretty sure the last thing anyone wants to see is someone getting hit with a flying chair. :grin:
McHale benches Jeremy Lin for a preseason game on a special trip designed by the NBA to promote basketball in Asia after Lin started every game last year unless injured. But he's surprised when he's grilled with questions about it by the asian media. lol
McHale is here to coach, not here to market. If the asian trip is successful and the Rockets season is unsuccessful then he will get fired. If the Asian trip is a bummer and the Rockets win the championship he will probably get extended He only has this month to play around with line-ups and rosters. To experiment, do you all really care whether Lin started? I haven't looked it up but it seems like he played just as many minutes as if he did start (for a preseason game)? YOU ALL should be happy and kissing McHales buttcheeks for playing Lin with the second unit. BEcause he did that you got to see Lin have the ball more when he was on the court.. and actually DO more since he didn't have to deviate to the other star players ALSO because it was rainy and an enormous amount of fans got to the arena late due to bad whether/traffic.. THEY ACTUALLY got to see Lin play since they missed 90% of the first quarter. I bet they were ecstatic. All those thousands of fans who paid to see Lin, got to see him for alot longer than if he did start.
Stop getting your panties in a bunch. Of course, McHale needs to do what he thinks is best for the Rockets. That's his job. But to be surprised being grilled with questions especially in this situation? lol
A good, well reasoned post. The only problem with it is that you seem (to me) to be setting the bar too high for a PR gaffe. That it didn't let all the air out of the balloon does not mean that it didn't cause a leak. The part to object to was that a seemingly cost-free fix would be to run Lin with the starters a few minutes and do everything else exactly the same.
To have Lin start for just a few minutes and then take him out wouldn't cause reporters to question him? I don't see how that's any better -- it would just attract questions of why he was pulled so abruptly. It would be, transparently, a non-basketball decision, and disrupt the flow of the game to start. I think the "leak", as you put it, is being totally overblown. Of course, I was arguing a lot last year in defense of Pop's right to play who he wants regardless of what the fans think. So that's where I'm coming. I strongly think a coach should not have to compromise his running of the team to satisfy others in terms of marketing.
In terms of discussion on this site, I'd certainly agree. And from my perspective, the only objection I have is marketing. As a basketball decision I have no objection at all, just as I agreed with Pop as well. One instructive perspective to look at the overblown "leak" is to view it from the opposite angle. If Lin had been a bench player all last year, and McHale had started him the two games in China, everyone there and here would have known exactly what was going on, and no one would be particularly suprised. It would be viewed as a PR move, but also as a nice gesture. As long as he didn't play a ton of extra minutes, I doubt anyone would particularly object.
What makes you think he was surprised by the questions? Because he said he was surprised? Have you heard how he answers questions he doesn't agree with? "I didn't know Asik was the GM?" Do you think he really didn't know who the GM was? When McHale says "I'm surprised by " a question, read that as "GTFO of here with that stupid question", but with an Irish spin to make it seem less confrontational.
I didn't realize the Irish spin was to make things less confrontational. I thought the stereotype was the other way around.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>McHale spoke about how well Lin has played since first few practices, seemed surprised anyone making an issue of preseason starting lineups.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/388530264747421696">October 11, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Do you know many Irish? Just did a quick Google search for reference and Lonely Planet refers to them as one of the world's friendliest cultures, which is totally true. Until they've reached their limit, in which case you get the confrontation you are thinking, which can be equally extreme.
Oooh, you really nailed me there. Found proof that McHale seemed surprised. Which is EXACTLY what I said in my post. Slow down the on the speed-reading there Evelyn.
good point about viewing the situation from a different angle I see it as being a visitor in a foreign land - simple decency and common courtesy must be followed.
Calm down. I thought you were asking me how I thought McHale was surprised. What's with all the emotion?
Others have already pointed out your stupid post but I just felt like chiming in and reminding you that your post is stupid.
Wait, you mean in the finals or that game when he was fined? Those are totally different situations. One was one of the most painful decisions ever made and the other one was just because they were the away team, definitely wouldn't do something like that in home games or in self-initiated promotional tours. ~lol~ someone is confusing "saying" and "appearing".
